A
gang of teenage youngsters is running riot on the streets. Responsible
for a number of burglaries and car thefts, the police are at their
wits' end trying to put a stop to the gang's activities. Terror
and hatred have become part of everyday life for local residents
and, just when it seems things cannot get any worse, the gang
targets Shelby House - an old people's home.

Supervisor
Veronica Porter, her two staff and the nine elderly residents
become the gang's most vulnerable victims yet as the thugs conduct
a hate campaign against them, sending abusive mail, daubing graffitl
on walls and shattering windows. The intimidation escalates until
Veronica's own father is dragged into the scene of terror when,
disturbing some of the gang members burgling his house he is put
into a coma.

But
enough is enough. The senior citizens of Shelby House decide to
take the law into their own hands and fight back...

Review
by VictimRating
9/10
A
tale of terror in a satellite town, where the kids are out of
control, and no one can do anything about it. Or can they?

Basically
the tale is about fear, what it can do to people, and the reactions
to it. I have decided that either I have lived to long in the
country or I am getting old, because I could associate with this,
although not through first hand experience. I did live in a city
for a while, partly in a rough area, and always near to one The
plot is not complex; in fact it is brutal in its simplicity. The
characters are brilliantly crafted, and the imagery is vivid.
The tension builds throughout, until the breaking point.

As
is usual with the work of Mr. Hutson, you try not to get involved
with any of the characters, because just as you get a bond with
them, they die, usually in a fairly gruesome way. This is always
a problem, because the first thing that happens is that you do
form a bond, within a few short sentences, you know some details
that draw you to them, then SPLAT! Onto the next character...

This
doesn't start off as grossly as some, although there are some
nasty occurrences, but what would you expect from this man. Even
the sick twisted evil 'Baddies' have some things with which you
can identify, the 'Goodies' have their flaws - they are human.
The characterisation is awesome, and the story flows like a well-oiled,
fast paced machine.

I
have always enjoyed reading the works of Shaun Hutson, and this
has got to be very high in my personal ranking of them.

There
is no 'Supernatural' element, just plain and simple human nature.

Highlight
- The comment about a poster of a manufactured band! - Find it
yourself... Victim
(1st December 2002)